MARIETTA | Woman killed by officer had bizarre past | News

Title (Max 100 Characters)

MARIETTA, Ga. -- It turns out a 53-year-old Marietta woman who was killed by a Cobb County Police officer over the weekend was facing federal charges for threatening two New York lawmakers.

Cobb County Police said Jameela Barnette assaulted one of their officers when he knocked on the door of an apartment on Penny Lane S.E. Sunday morning. The unnamed officer fired back at Barnette, and she died on the scene. The officer was later treated for injuries to his arm from the attack and put on administrative leave pending an investigation.

New details about the shooting and Barnette's past were released Monday from the office of a state senator from New York.

Brittany Oat, a spokeswoman for Sen. Greg Ball (R, C-Patterson), said Barnette was armed with a handgun and a knife during Sunday's attack. Oat said Barnette was the same woman who mailed Ball's office a hoax about weapons of mass destruction last month.

The New York Daily News reported that Barnette had sent Ball "a vial of perfume, a hate-filled letter and a doll of the monkey Curious George wearing two Stars of David."

Politico reported that Barnette had also mailed a bloody pig's foot to U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) "to voice her dismay with the hearing he held...on what he calls the "radicalization" of American Muslims."

Both Politico and the New York Daily News reported that Barnette was Muslim.

Citing the FBI, Ball's spokeswoman said Barnette had been arrested and indicted on federal charges for the package sent to Ball's office. She was later released by a U.S. District Court judge.